The 000Webhost Data Breach: What Happened in March 2015?

In March 2015, 000Webhost, one of the internet's most popular free web hosting providers, suffered a data breach that resulted in the exposure of more than 15 million user accounts. The incident affected people who used 000Webhost to host personal or business websites, lured by the platform's promise of free hosting solutions. During this breach, unauthorized parties gained access to a large collection of data, including users' full names, email addresses, IP addresses, and plain text passwords. For many, this incident served as an early example of just how valuable free web hosting user data could be, and it underscored the growing need for tighter security measures online even for 'free' services.

What Data Was Breached?

The breach at 000Webhost exposed several key pieces of user information. Records included the full names of account holders, their email addresses, the IP addresses from which they accessed the service, and—most seriously—user passwords, which were stored in plain text. The nature of the exposed data made users particularly vulnerable to phishing and other online attacks, especially since many people reuse passwords across different sites.

How Many People Were Affected?

The total impact was massive: 15,241,933 registered 000Webhost customers had their records exposed by the breach. This sheer volume of compromised accounts made it one of the most notable web hosting breaches of the decade, especially in the free hosting sector.

Timeline and Discovery

The breach is reported to have occurred on or around March 1st, 2015. Unauthorized parties infiltrated the hosting provider’s systems and extracted sensitive information belonging to millions of its users. Details about how the attackers gained access were not made public at the time, but the breach itself went undetected for several months, only coming to wider attention later in the year when the database surfaced on the dark web and various forums.

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened in the 000Webhost data breach?

In March 2015, attackers accessed and exfiltrated the full names, email addresses, plain text passwords, and IP addresses of about 15 million users from the free web hosting service 000Webhost.

How many users were affected by the 000Webhost breach?

The breach impacted 15,241,933 user accounts registered with 000Webhost at the time of the incident.

What user data was exposed in the 000Webhost breach?

Exposed data includes full names, email addresses, IP addresses, and passwords (stored in plain text) of 000Webhost customers.

When did the 000Webhost data breach occur?

The incident took place in early March 2015. Data from the breach was not circulated publicly until later in the year.

How can I check if I'm in the 000Webhost breach?

You can check if your information was part of the 000Webhost breach by utilizing the DeHashed search engine.